Clashing Obsessions

Chapter 13 - Kalix

I am unimportant.

The thought often drives me crazy. If I were to fall off the face of the Earth today, there are exactly three people who would care: Roxanna, Cayden, and Idra. To anyone else, they'd hardly know the difference. My mother might not even notice.

I've been wondering a lot lately about why I finally chose to set up a meeting with the anonymous user, and I think that might be why. I think I might've done it for the exact reasons I knew I shouldn't do it. It's dangerous, it's unpredictable, and something feels so, so wrong. He is up to something bad, I know it, and I don't just mean hacking somebody's phone bad, I mean dramatic, news-making bad. What happens will be noticed.

What happens will be important.

I think that might be at least one reason I do any of this. I may be nothing, I may be unimportant, but Codebreaker, she's far from it. If she fell off the face of the Earth, people would notice. People would care. As long as I am her, and continue to do the unexpected, the dramatic, the impressive, I will not be nothing.

With that thought in mind, I head out the door. I have a meeting with Anonymous13810, which will no doubt lead to the start of this something I'm so intrigued by. Whatever he's up to, he'll be noticed, and my code along with him. One way or another, I will not be nothing.

* * *

The client sits across the table from me, wearing all black, his face covered mostly by his hood as well as a mask. For the first time in a long while, I actually want to use my FaceRec on a client, but I know it won't work. He looks me over for a few seconds before speaking, his voice cold and a little intimidating. Memories of the audio call when I tried to trace his account come back to me, but he doesn't seem anxious to bring it up, for which I'm thankful. What I must not have noticed in the call before is his Polean accent, which emphasizes his imperfect use of the Universal Language.

"You are the hacker?" He confirms, with a hint of suspicion.

"Are you surprised?" I ask in response.

"I didn't expect you to be so..."

"Young?" I guess. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard that, but the way he started the sentence felt... off.

"Well... yes. Perhaps. You're just— not what I was expecting."

His eyes scan my face, as if he's analyzing every detail of me. Even though I'm wearing a mask, the attention makes me uncomfortable, so I change the subject.

"You're Polean," I say, voicing my earlier observation. He looks unshaken.

"That is quite obvious."

"Why are you in Japan? There's been no travel to and from the North or South Poles since the war."

"I was told you don't ask questions," he says, his voice uncertain but not nervous.

"Sorry. Just curious."

"This mission cannot afford your 'curiosity', Miss Codebreaker."

"Right. Of course. Now, what is it you need from me... sir?"

He slides a tablet across the table to me, and the screen lights up. On it is a digital layout of what appears to be the Allanite Corporation Innovation Lab building in upper Roppongi. Almost immediately, I shake my head and stand up. Why is this guy so obsessed with breaking my very few, very simple rules?

"No. Nothing corporation-related. You know my terms." It's the main rule that I follow above all else. Hacking personal computers, tracing phones, and even more intense stuff like helping clients hide from the law by erasing police reports, all that's dangerous, sure. But not like corporations. In today's world, what matters is what the people want, and what they want, corporations fight each other to sell. Governments are kidding themselves if they think they have power. The real power, and control over the population, lies with the main 5 megacorporations — Cortland, Inc., Daintree, Nexlo, Pictograph, Inc., and of course, AllaCorp. Together, they control over 99% of the world's market. That's why OutlawResolve said breaking the rule was a "big deal". In fact, that's a bit of an understatement.